Splash X
by Swift Bolt99
Summary: Colonel Mitchell beams up to the Odyssey to help his old squadron try and win the Splash X competition. An annual interstellar targeting competition involving multiple 302 squadrons. How will they stack up against their competitors from the Hammond?
1. Chapter 1

Splash X

Chapter One.

USS Odyssey

Earth's Orbit

July 11, 2010

Colonel Davidson was in the midst of going over a report on a digital tablet when the transport beam brought Colonel Camren Mitchell of SG-1 onto the bridge. Davidson gave the tablet back one of his officers and stood to greet him.

"Colonel Mitchell, welcome aboard."

"Thank you, sir. This beaming up stuff never gets old."

"I agree and I see you're ready to go," Davidson said referring to his flight suit and the helmet he was holding."

"Status of the squadron?" Mitchell asked.

"It's at full strength and all of the pilots are waiting for you in Hangar bay one."

"Excellent. General Landry already told me that this little competition of ours will be taking place near Saturn."

"Did he also tell you about the stiff competition Blue Squadron will be facing?"

"Yes sir, and that's why I'm here. To give my old team a fighting chance at winning this thing."

"Whatever the outcome is, this competition is bound to be fun. Good luck out there."

"Thank you sir," Mitchell replied then left the bridge.

Hangar bay one

Mitchell walked through the door and was instantly greeted by the pilots of Blue Squadron. There were a few familiar faces, but most of them were new.

"Hey Shaft, welcome back to the team," Major Amy Hulbert said.

"It's only temporary, Amy. But thank you nonetheless."

"It's good to see you again, sir. How is life on SG-1 going?" Major Kent asked.

"Pretty great. But business has been a little slow since the Ori were put in their place.

"I can imagine, sir."

"Yeah. But anyway, I heard you guys are facing some stiff competition in the Splash X competition. So I came up here to help you out."

"We appreciate that, sir. But extreme is more like it," Kent replied.

"Yeah, the Golden Eagles on the Hammond are top notch. All triple aces, I heard they racked up dozens of Al'kesh, Te'tak, and Glider kills on their anti-Lucian Alliance sorties," Lieutenant Michael Burke said.

"Colonel Carter's golden boys and girls," Kent commented.

"That they are, but if we can splash our target drones quickly and with few misses as possible, we should be able to beat'em. Personally I prefer zero misses, but I've been around long enough to know nothing ever goes as planned.

"We won't let your down, Shaft," Kent said.

"No way you guys ever could."

"You might want to check out the 302s, sir. I think you'll be impressed with some of the new features," Hulbert said.

"General Landry said I would be," Mitchell replied then followed Hulbert over to the nearest 302.

"What do you think of our new missile load, sir?"

"It looks like the kind of payload this bird should've had the moment it was built, Amy," Mitchell said referring to the eight AIM-120C-7 AMRAAMs that were housed in groups of two on the four pylons.

"We can also launch air to surface weapons from the ventral bay too."

"What kind and how many?"

"Eight Small Diameter Bombs, four AGM-65 Mavericks, or a single two-thousand pound JDAM. There was even some talk of replacing the railguns with plasma beam cannons similar to the ones on our ships, but the powers that be haven't decided yet."

"Very impressive, Amy. But what else does it have?"

"In addition to touch screen displays like the ones in the F-35s, Asgard shielding. A major boost to our survivability."

"If we had this version of the 302 at the Battle of Antarctica…"

"Our losses would've been lower and we could've stayed in the fight longer before running off to McMurdo to rearm."

"Yeah, and some of our original members may still be here today," Mitchell somberly commented and Hulbert nodded in acknowledgement.

"All hands, this is Colonel Davidson. We are heading out to Jupiter to meet up with the other ships, this should be great day four our 302 pilots. Happy hunting out there, boys and girls."

Mitchell put on his helmet and called the pilots into a huddle.

"Go Blue on three. One, two, three."

"Go Blue," the pilots shouted in unison.

"The other squadrons taking part in this competition besides the Golden Eagles and the Blues were the Daggers from the Daedalus, the Pikes from the Apollo, the Black Dragons from the PLAS Sun Tzu, and the Lions from the Pendergast where Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill would be running the show from.

There were two other 304s in the fleet, but they both on assignment. The Russian ship, the Chekov was on orbital patrol above the Earth and the USS Phoenix was on its way to the Pegasus galaxy for a supply run to Atlantis.

Chapter 2 coming soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

USS Pendergast

Saturn's orbit

Lieutenant General Jack O'Neill was standing on the bridge with Colonel Catherine Womack who was sitting in her command chair. Catherine was a seasoned veteran of past operations on both the Prometheus before its destruction over Tegalus and the Odyssey shorty after that tragic event. Now here she was as the commander of her own Daedalus ship.

"You know, Colonel? Even though we now have eight ships to our name, I still feel like our fleet is missing something."

"What would that be, sir?" Womack asked.

"A ship bearing the name Enterprise. It's the most iconic ship name there is. A fleet cannot be whole without an Enterprise at its center."

"Before we beamed you up from Homeworld Command, Colonel Carter told me that in her words, you might start…bellyaching about the lack of an Enterprise in our space fleet."

"Did she now?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well it still doesn't change the fact that we need an Enterprise in our fleet. I know the Navy has an aircraft carrier bearing the name, but we need our own Enterprise too."

"Maybe the name will find itself on the next hull after the Paul Emerson," Womack commented.

"Hopefully," O'Neill replied.

"General, Colonel, I'm detecting a hyperspace window opening," weapons officer, Lieutenant Rivera said.

The hyperspace window appeared next to the Hammond off in the distance and the Odyssey dropped out.

"Well the gang's all here," O'Neill said then told Rivera to open a channel.

"Channel is open sir."

"Everybody, this is Lieutenant General O'Neill aboard the Pendergast. Welcome to the 2010 Splash X Competition. A nice little event where our brave 302 pilots get to play on the field while the rest of us play spectator. While keeping an eye out for any baddies of course. Pilots, Your targets will be drone replicas of fighters you've faced in the past such as Goa'uld Death Gliders and Wraith Darts. You will be judged on timing and accuracy, whoever can clear their sector of bandits in the shortest amount time with the least amount of misses wins. I know you're all chomping at the bit to get out there, so I won't delay the start of the games any longer. Daedalus and Apollo, your squads are up first."

"Thank you, General," Colonel Caldwell replied then turned to Major Marks on his right. "Launch all 302s."

"Yes sir."

Sixteen fighters soared from the bays of both ships and headed off to their designated sector. The Daggers had sector one and the Pikes had sector two.

"Daggers, we're nearing firing range. Shift into attack formation." Lieutenant Colonel Pat Meyers ordered.

"Roger, shifting," Dagger two replied then the fighters shifted into a formation that would enable all of them to fire at once.

"Listen up Pike Squadron, Colonel Ellis is expecting one-hundred percent accuracy from us. Let's make him proud," Major Terry Lockridge said.

"Roger that," the other pilots replied in unison.

"I got bandits on radar, sir. A joint formation of Gliders and Darts, ninety-eight targets in total," Lockride's copilot, Lieutenant Bush reported.

"Alright guys, time to pick your targets."

Since they now carried eight missiles, the pilots didn't feel the need to be conservative with them. The 302s of Dagger flight fired off four AMRAAMs at the targets they selected, but the Pikes went the extra mile and fired off six each.

Multiple Glider and Dart drones were splashed by the missiles, but the others scattered like a flock of birds as the 302s arrived and gave chase.

The race between the two squadrons was on.

Which squadron would you be betting on in this round?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

After firing off his last AMRAAM and watching it blast a Glider drone, Major Lockridge made a right sharp right turn and got onto the tail of a Dart drone. A quick burst from his railguns turned it into space dust.

"Only one target left, sir. Pike Two is pursuing," Lieutenant Bush said.

Shortly after his report, the Dart drone vanished from his screen. "It looks like we got this one, sir. Pike Two splashed the target with his railguns."

"Pike Squadron, this is the Apollo. Well done, you are the victors of this round and your teamwork and accuracy were flawless," Ellis said over the radio.

"Copy that, Apollo. How much did we beat Dagger Squadron by?" Lockridge asked.

"The success of your opening salvo put you guys in the lead from the get go. Return to the Apollo so the Lions and the Black Dragons can have their turn."

"Copy that, we're heading back."

On their way back to the Apollo, the 302s of Dagger Squadron joined up with them.

"Got to give credit where credit is due. Congratulations Pike Squadron," Colonel Meyers said.

"Thanks, Dagger One. How many targets did you guys have left?" Lockridge asked.

"Only fourteen. We bagged a lot of bandits with our missiles and railguns, but some were able to outmaneuver our shots.

"Better luck next time," Lockridge replied.

Pendergast bridge

A short time later

"Ma'am Dagger and Pike Squadrons are back aboard the Daedalus and the Apollo," Lieutenant Rivera reported.

Womack nodded in acknowledgement then pressed the radio button on the right arm rest of her chair.

"Pendergast to Sun Tzu, we will be launching our F-302s shortly."

"Copy that, my Black Dragons are ready to compete with your squadron," Lieutenant Colonel Yin replied.

"Send out the Lions, Rivera." Womack ordered.

"This should be fun," O'Neill commented.

The fighters of the Pendergast flew out of the bays at lightning speed as their counterparts from the Sun Tzu did the same. Lion Squadron had One-hundred and twelve drones to face since the fourteen that weren't splashed by the Daggers were added to their amount.

"Lion Leader to flight, I want you all to pick four targets the moment the enemy formation shows up on radar," Major Logue ordered.

"This is Lion Two, roger that."

Four minutes later, the Black Dragons executed the first step of their pre-rehearsed plan. Captain Meizhen along with Dragons Two, Three and Four opened their bays revealing four radar guided PL-12 missiles in addition to the eight on their wings while Dragons Five through Sixteen broke formation and proceeded to their assigned positions.

Due to the range difference between the AIM-120 C7s and the PL-12s, it was agreed that both squadrons would start engaging from thirty miles.

Upon reaching the agreed upon distance. The American and Chinese squadrons launched their attack. Meizhen's group fired all four of their internally loaded PL-12s along with three more from their wings. The other Dragons emptied their bays while the Lions fired off the same amount the Pikes did.

"Maintain course and speed, guys. We'll mop up the rest at close range," Logue said.

The AMRAAMs and PL-12s reached their targets at pretty much the same time and scored numerous kills. The Glider and Dart formation targeted by the Black Dragons suffered the worst since the missiles came at them from all directions.

As the survivors fanned out in multiple directions. Many encountered something that no one else watching the competition expected.

Pendergast, bridge

"Well I'll be dammed. Carter, are you seeing this?" O'Neill asked over his headset as he looked at the sensor footage on the digital HUD.

Affirmative, sir. The Chinese installed Asgard beam weapons on their 302s. And they're sniping targets flawlessly."

"When we get back to Earth, I want you to get with the eggheads at Area-51 and personally oversee the development of an APBW for our fighters. Every minute not in space on the Hammond will be spent with them until boxes of beam weapons are rolling out to every 302 in the fleet."

"Understood, sir. But what about the-."

"Yes, yes, the Russians, the British, and the French will be getting some for their 302s as well in accordance to the new Gate Alliance Treaty."

"By the O'Neill turned back to the HUD on the viewscreen, the match was over. There were still some missiles from Lion Squadron chasing down targets, but it was quite obvious that the Black Dragons were the winners.

"Any thoughts on this, Colonel Womack?"

"Both squadrons fought well, General. In a way, I think the Chinese deserved to pick up a win."

"Returning to service after being down for a year after that debacle with the Super Hive, yeah I think so too," O'Neill replied then walked over to Rivera's console and opened a channel to the Sun Tzu. "Colonel Yin, this is General O'Neill. Do you read me?"

"Loud and clear, General O'Neill."

"Both of our squadrons put on a good show. Be sure to extend my congratulations to your pilots when they land."

"It will be the first item on the debriefing list, General."

"Copy, O'Neill out."

"Sir, Major Logue reports that the remaining drones have been splashed and the squadron is returning."

"And now we sit back and watch the final round."

Hammond bridge

"This is Colonel Carter to all Golden Eagles. Start your engines, you guys and the Blue Squadron are up next."

"Roger that, ma'am. We're gonna show Shaft and friends why we're the best squadron in the whole damn fleet," Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Sullivan said.

Sullivan was once a member of Blue Squadron who had distinguished himself well during the Battle of Antarctica. Competing against his old squadron leader was going to be interesting.

In hangar bay one on the Odyssey, Mitchell slapped on his oxygen mask and lowered his visor.

"It's show time, team."

Note. I decided to increase the number of drone targets in chapter two to ninety-eight. The previous number just wasn't big enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

The 302s of the Blue and Gold Squadrons departed from the hangar bays of the Odyssey and the Hammond for the final round of the competition.

While on route to the engagement zone, Colonel Mitchell looked down for a brief second and noticed something quite surprising.

He could see right through the floor of the cockpit. He also looked to the left and right and noticed his view was unobstructed in those areas too.

"Blue Leader to squadron, can someone tell me why my visor has X-Ray vision?"

"That is the Distributed Aperture system in play, Blue Leader. Another wonderful gift from the F-35 program. It can process targeting data and as you can clearly see, it makes blind spots a thing of the past," Major Hulbert explained.

"And we were the first ones to use it in combat," Another familiar voice said over the radio.

"Ron, is that you?"

"Affirmative, Shaft. Long time no see," Colonel Sullivan replied.

"Same here, It's a pity that my team will be defeating yours."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. We didn't become triple aces by being nice."

"So I've heard. But Blue Squadron is nothing to sneeze at either."

"No denying that. But against us, you guys are in way over your heads."

"I still beg to differ," Mitchell replied.

The display panel starting beeping which meant the time for competitive chatter was over. The bandits just showed up on radar.

"We got company, People. Ninety-eight bandits confirmed on radar at one-hundred miles and closing fast. It's a joint formation of Gliders and Darts."

"AMRAAMs are hot and ready to fly on your command, Blue Leader," Major Kent said.

"Roger Blue Two. Standby for max range."

Given how fast they were going, it didn't take them long to reach the fifty-seven mile mark where the pilots automatically acquired five targets each.

Blue Squadron, fox three," Mitchell said then the missiles went flying towards their targets.

Sullivan delayed his squadron's attack until he saw what Blue Squadron did first.

"Gold Squadron, salvo five."

"I see what you did there, Ron," Mitchell said as he saw the AMRAAMs from Gold Squadron on his radar."

"Don't even think about calling us cheaters, Shaft. The only thing that matters in this competition is who splashes the last bandit in their sector first."

"And that is going to be us, you and your squadron will be buying us drinks after this."

"No chance in hell of that," Sullivan replied.

"Blue Three to Blue Leader, we only got eighteen targets left. We can take'em all with one more missile salvo," Hulbert said.

"You can fire off some more once we get in close. I intend to rack up some gun kills before this match is over."

"Copy that."

A few seconds later, they arrived within visual range of the remaining Dart and Glider drones that responded by fanning out. Three of Blue Squadron's 302s launched missiles while others broke formation to pursue.

"Remember our past sorties, Gold Flight. Engage in pairs, no single ship attacks," Sullivan said.

"Roger that sir. I'm on your left."

"Copy, Gold Two."

Mitchell made a left turn and got onto the tail of a Dart drone. The dart did a little zigzagging then shot ahead at high speed, forcing Mitchell to step on the gas as well.

"Wow, this guy is really booking it."

"Wraith Darts are a lot faster than Gliders, Blue Leader. So it takes a bit more effort to bring them down," Major Hulbert said over the radio."

"I see, but I almost got this guy."

A few seconds later, he closed the gap between him and his prey and smoked it with the railguns. "Fast but not fast enough," he commented then looked to the left just in time to see a Glider drone off in the distance get splashed by a missile from a 302 that wasn't even going for it. Well not in the normal sense.

"This is Blue Six, I just scored an off boresight kill on a Glider. Hell yeah."

"Nice shot, Six. But we still have bandits to mop up," Mitchell replied.

Things were going pretty well for Blue Squadron, but things were going even better for their competitors.

When it came to pursuing bandits, Gold squadron pilots would box the target in from both sides, so no matter which it way it turned, they would always end up flying into the path of the railguns. Other times, they would simply boom and zoom. Splash with the railguns and keep on going.

Sullivan and Gold two dived onto a glider they spotted several feet below them and splashed it with a quick burst from their railguns.

"It looks like we got the last the target, boss."

"Yeah. Read it and weep, Blue Squadron, it looks like you will all be paying for our drinks toni.."

"I got three words for you, Ron. T. I. E."

"Wait, what?" Gold Two asked.

"That's right. We finished off our targets at the same time you guys did," Mitchell said.

"Well I demand a bonus round, this tie has to be broken."

"And it will be, Colonel Sullivan. Just not this year," General O'Neill said over the radio."

"Understood, sir."

"You all kicked a great deal of butt out there and the best way to handle this outcome is to accept it as a testament to your skill levels."

"I couldn't agree more, sir."

"You see, Sullivan, Colonel Mitchell has the right idea, and I don't think Carter is itching to bite your head off about it. Right, Sam?"

"Affirmative sir. You did a great job out there, Gold Squadron. Same to Blue Squadron too."

"Why thank you, Sam. You should drop by the SGC sometime. We really miss you down there."

"I miss being there too. Be sure to give Daniel, Vala, and Teal'c my regards when you get back."

"Wilco. Blue Leader to flight, let's head back to the Odyssey."

Along the way, Gold Squadron joined up with them.

"Shaft, I just wanted to say that even though we were competing against each other, it was nice flying with you again."

"Yep. You too buddy."

When they were halfway to the Odyssey, Mitchell and Sullivan saluted each other then Gold Squadron broke off for the Hammond.

"Odyssey to Blue Squadron, landing bays one and two are open and you're cleared to land," Davidson said.

"Roger that, we're coming in," Mitchell replied.

With both squadrons recovered, the six ships jumped into hyperspace for the return trip to Earth.

Stargate Command

Hours later

Mitchell beamed down into the briefing room where he was greeted by his team.

"Hey, Mitchell. Welcome back."

"Thank you, Jackson."

"Were you able to lead your squadron to victory over Colonel Carter's?" Teal'c asked.

"Our match ended in a tie. Colonel Sullivan started shouting for a bonus round to break it, but General O'Neill told him to wait till next year."

"How come you guys didn't have a bonus round?" Most of your game shows do. I would've added one in on the day the competition was established."

"I shudder to think what else you would've added, Vala" Daniel commented with a shrug.

Area 51, Nevada

One week later

Mitchell was once again back in the cockpit of an F-302. This time he was leading a twelve-ship flight from the Earth Defense squadron stationed there. Their mission, to test out the new beam weapons.

In the aftermath of last year's battle with the Wraith Superhive that resulted in the loss of the Ancient drone chair when a pair of Darts did a kamikaze run on its hanger. The Earth based 302 squadrons were enlarged and expanded.

Since four of the five 302s that made up Area 51s squadron were lost in that ill-fated air battle, new pilots had to be brought in by the busload not only to compensate, but as part of the size increase.

The 302 squadrons stationed at Area 51, McMurdo in Antarctica, and Thule Air Force Base in Greenland now stood at sixty jets on permanent standby with MK-IX tactical nukes in their bays. There were four more Earth Defense squadrons based in Russia, China, England and France.

Colonel Carter was monitoring the test from the control room and Vala, Daniel and Teal'c were watching right beside her.

"Camren, this is Carter, the Drones are entering the atmosphere at high speed and you should have them on your radar soon."

"Roger, Sam. We got contact, bandits confirmed twelve o'clock high and were just waiting for them to get within range."

"Blue Leader, this is Deathstar One. beams weapons are hot."

"Same here," Mitchell replied after checking his ordnance display.

The moment the drones reached the ten mile mark, Mitchell and the Deathstars fired the two beam cannons under their noses.

Having two beam cannons enabled them to splash two targets at once and repeat the process in spectacular fashion.

In the amount of time it took to blink, the formation of fifty Dart drones was reduced to two and then, none.

"I think we have a winner with this thing here, Sam."

"I agree, Camren. Nice shooting up there."

"Thanks. But I think it will be better to use the beams to compliment the railguns instead of replacing them. Our fighters can use all the firepower they can get."

"General O'Neill said the same thing. I'm about to send him an email with the test results."

"Roger that, we're heading back to base."

It didn't take long for O'Neill to reply back and when he did, he his message only had three words.

Greenlight on mass production.

Fin.


End file.
